Judiciary needs N$2b to fix ‘shambolic’ infrastructure

… Tenders to replace broken court door

The judiciary and Ministry of Justice say they need more than N$2 billion to renovate and maintain their infrastructure, which is currently in a shambles.

Additionally, the Office of the Judiciary says it needs N$5 million to provide the country’s courts with air conditioning.

This comes at a time when the treasury says about N$1,3 billion is needed to support the countrywide drought-relief programme.

The Office of the Juciary told the parliamentary standing committee on constitutional and legal affairs yesterday that procurement processes for maintenance are so “cumbersome” that they need to issue tenders to replace a broken door at the Oshakati High Court. This was revealed by the executive directors of these two offices, who told the parliamentary committee the door has been broken since March, and they have now given the contractor three days to fix it.

Executive director of the Office of the Judiciary Benhardt Kukuri said the successful bidder is yet to complete the work.

He said the office has been struggling with the involved company.

“We agreed for that contractor to deliver the required services . . ,” he said.

If the door isn’t fixed by Monday, the judiciary would employ another company, he said.

Committee member Tjekero Tweya grilled the executive directors of the government’s legal offices over instances where progress is hindered due to failing processes.

The government’s legal arm yesterday appeared before the parliamentary committee to account for capital projects and the lack thereof. Tweya labelled the judiciary’s ageing infrastructure a crisis. Tweya and fellow committee member Paula Kooper did not take it lightly that the involved door has not been replaced or repaired since March.

“The door we are talking about, do we really need a quote for the hinges to be put back? Should the hinges be remanufactured from March until July? “If it is a law then in parliament we can fix it. If the law does not help us deliver a service, then we should fix it,” he said.

Tweya asked whether fixing hinges required a tender process.

“ . . . if the law does not help us to realise service, then we will not get it,” he said.

Recognising procurement struggles, the lawmaker said certain processes need to change.

“We are not aware of that. That is really a problem,” he said.

TWO BILLION FOR COURTS

Executive director of justice Gladice Pickering told the committee they would need more than N$2 billion for reparations.

She pointed out Lüderitz as a problem area.

“Lüderitz is in dire need for renovation,” she said.

Pickering said another danger is the proximity of suspects, magistrates and prosecutors.

“Close proximity between people is the situation in all regions, except Katima Mulilo,” she said.

Her fellow executive director said to install air conditioning in the country’s courts, the ministry requires N$5 million.

“We need N$5 million for all the courtrooms to get air conditioning,” Kukuri said.

He also conceded that the current infrastructure is inadequate. This includes the courts’ holding cells.

“This is a problem,” he said.

This has also been highlighted by the Office of the Ombudsman in its annual reports for the last five years.

CONCERNS

The committee found there was no construction at the court facility at Nkurenkuru, and that the Kavango West region is supposed to have prefabricated courtrooms or mobile courts.

“The periodic court in Kavango West operates from a police building,” the committee report states. The committee found no construction at Mariental either.

“The periodic court at Noordoewer is held in a police boardroom, with the members wanting to know if it was gazetted as a court,” the report reads.

In central Namibia, at the Katutura East constituency, no construction was carried out during the period under review.

“The members expressed satisfaction with the construction of the periodic court at Seeis. At Gobabis there was no construction of periodic courts during the period under review,” the committee’s report reads.

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